PYTASH: How Stories Work

I think that it is really important for students to learn the literary terms because I believe it can help with comprehension. If a student can identify different literary elements, such as typology, theme, or symbols, the student is more likely to be able to understand the text at a deeper level. One important thing I think that all students should know is Freytag's Triangle/Pyramid.


These are characteristics found in basically every text and needs to be understood by students so they can understand how a story progresses.

PYTASH: All About Words

I really liked some of the ideas that Jago brought up in chapter 2 about building vocabulary. When students don't know what words mean, there is no way to be able to just read the text and get it. Reading comprehension is directly tied to knowing vocabulary. Yet, I liked how Jago used the Vocabulary Bookmark on pg. 24. I think it is a way for students to identify their own weaknesses in vocabulary so that instruction becomes more meaningful.
Another thing that I really liked from the text was the Do and Don't list on page 32. I feel that these are all really good points to use. The only one I think I would like to change is the last don't about illustrating one word in a class period. I think that it shouldn't be in the classroom, but I think that it would be a great take home assignment so that way we could hang up the posters around the room so that I could refer to the words that the students had trouble with later on in the semester.
Another Vocabulary Bookmark can be found HERE.

FOOT: Pleasure Listening "Queen Bee and the Keepers"

So once again, Tiffany Ankrom and I went to a concert. This time it was at the Kent Stage. It was Queen Bee and the Keepers (Tiffany is friends with the members of the band), The Lighthouse and the Whaler, and Ashley Brooke Toussant. It was really good and once again she has exposed me to new music and I find myself liking a few more bands. If you would like to check out any of these bands to expand your own musical horizons, you can click on the links provided. Queen Bee and the Keepers have two songs on Bandcamp for free, too.

FOOT: Dressed Review

A) Personal Issues
I think one idea that struck a responsive chord was that Nary was abandoned by his parents at 14 years old. I cannot imagine how traumatic of an experience that must have been. For me, my parents are some of the most important people in my life and the ones I can always talk to. If I didn't have them in my life, it would have been completely different. I probably would not be in college and would probably be a very bitter person. This chord provides for a strong emotional response because even though every person in the audience may not be a fashion designer, everyone has parents in some capacity. This is why I believe that this response can be generalized to other viewers.

B) Technique
I feel that the use of music was really good in this film. One particularly good use of music was using music from a band called Sink to See. They interviewed some of the members of this band because Nary knew them in high school. The whole time I was watching the film, I kept thinking that I would look for the names of the bands in the credits so I could look them up. The camera work on the whole was pretty good. There were some really interesting shots from above when Nary got the call that he no longer had a venue to show at. Other than that, it was a typical documentary with standard interview scenes. I feel that one of the film's strengths was that it used text on the screen to help divide up the scenes and give more information about either the situation or the history of fashion. It gave the audience "little breathers" and helped make the film not seem like one big blob of images. As for it's weaknesses, it would appeal more to a select audience since not everyone is interested in the fashion industry.

C) Acting
I don't feel that I can critique the acting since it was a documentary. The performance was pretty authentic and genuine so it did not appear to be a mocumentary or made up.

D) Plot
I feel the plot was the typical rags-to-riches kind of story. Boy comes from a background where his parents abandoned him and he was homeless at 14, became a self taught designer, and moved to New York. The film follows Nary, an aspiring fashion designer, trying to put on a show at Fashion Week in New York. If follows his creative process, his financial issues, and other experiences he has that occur up until Fashion Week occurs.

E) Themes
The main idea of this film is that with hard work and perseverance anyone can succeed. Like I said in the previous answer, it is a rags-to-riches story. Yet at the same time, the filmmaker interjects statistics about the fashion industry and says that after 2 years, approximately 80% of designers will be out of the industry and don't make it. It is meant to be uplifting and show that despite all the bad things that happened in Nary's childhood, he still was able to make something of himself. I do not feel that there are any hidden messages or messages that distract from the plot. Everything works together very well and has a good flow to it.

F) Genre
This film is a documentary. It resembles many other documentaries because it follows one person through a period of time in their life. Some of the common characteristics of documentaries include on site filming of real people in their world. It may or may not contain interviews with people close to the subject or experts on a field. There typically is not a script the the main characters follow though there may be some voice overs that give general overviews of the topic. I don't think this is necessarily a popular genre today but it will continue to exist because they are based in fact and the real world. It is something mostly for education or to chronicle a life, time period or idea and not fictitious entertainment.

G) Representation
It represents people in the fashion culture the way they are through the use of interviews. It also represents one story of a person who was homeless and abandoned by his parents. I believe everyone in the film is represented the way they are because it is an unscripted documentary.

H) Ideology
It challenged the stereotype that all homeless people are bums and cannot achieve anything. Nary shows the audience that he will do anything it takes to achieve his dream and does not look for sympathy from others. He wanted to show the audience that he was strong enough to overcome his situation and succeed.

FOOT: Cleveland Film Festival "Dressed"

On Thursday night, Connor and I went to see Dressed. It is a documentary about a young fashion designer, Nary Manivong, and his journey to show a collection at New York Fashion Week. I chose this film because the head of Fashion Week Cleveland, Donald Shingler, had sent a mass e-mail to everyone involved in FWC, and it just so happened to be one of the only films I could fit in my schedule. I though that it was a really cool experience. When I got there, the film was on stand-by and I got tickets and waited in the food court even though it was closed. While I was waiting in the food court, Donald ran up to me and he was dressed in a suit and tie, which made me feel extremely under dressed in my jeans and crew neck sweatshirt. When we were let into the theater, they had a few speakers talk before the movie started. Low and behold, Donald was one of those speakers and he talked about how there is a group that is working on providing up and coming designers retail space in downtown Cleveland to help revitalize the city. I though that was really cool.

Then the movie had technical difficulties...



which led to a 30+ minute question and answer session with Nary while the director ran back to his hotel to get another copy of the film. It was really interesting because Nary was originally from a suburb of Cleveland, then moved to Columbus when he was about 8. It was cool to find out that he is working on a collection called NAHM with Tommy Hilfiger's daughter, Ally Hilfiger. To the right is a picture I took in the lobby of Tower City.

If you would like to view a trailer of the movie click HERE.

FOOT: Pleasure Reading "Water for Elephants"

I just started reading Water for Elephants recently. I am only a few chapters into the book but I hope that I can finish it soon. I just really cannot wait until I have free time again. I have just been really bogged down with homework recently and haven't had much time to read. It is not a book I would typically go for but I have found it pretty interesting thus far. I hope to post again once I finish it! I really want to finish it before the movie comes out because I am one of "those people" who like to read the book before seeing it in theaters.

FOOT: Pleasure "Reading" A Minor Bird concert

So last night, Tiffany Ankrom, another INLA major, and I went to a concert at Musica to see A Minor Bird from Canton, Ohio. I had never heard of any of the bands playing (Winter Gloves, Young Galaxy, and Chasing Chariots) but decided it would be a fun time hanging out. Tiffany knows some of the people in the band and wanted me to come. It was a pretty good show. I ended up really liking the music of most of the bands. While I was there, I was thinking about the lyrics of the songs each band was singing. I think it would be an interesting for students to take the lyrics of a song and look at them like poetry and compare different artists and genres.